Rosh Hashanah in Eastbourne

I am now back in my flat in London, and am very pleased to be. Although Eastbourne is a wonderful community and the service went well I was very tired by the end. As I as things went well we were meeting in a church, 'Christ the King'. But the room was very pleasant and the congregation participatory and nice.
I felt much happier with the service this year, I am more used to Liberal liturgy than I was. I was also happy with my Torah reading, although the scroll is not great I think it must have been prepared and so was much better than I had been led to believe it would be.  On Erev Rosh Hashanah I preached, and on the morning I gave a study session. After some feed back I am going  to add a D'var Torah to my Yom Kippur services as well as a sermon on Kol Nideri.  After the service some of us went for lunch in  a near by restaurant before I saw mum and dad safely to Euston and came back to the flat.  (The weather in Eastbourne was hot, too hot really) but now its raining and feels very autumnal.  I still have a lot to do for Yom Kippur, hopefully will be able to have a skype meeting about that. And there still remains much to do with the new flat and moving.

But here is more or less what I said on Erev Rosh Hashanah.

There is a brilliant paper by Auerbach entitled, 'The Scar of Odysseus', in which he describes the essential and fundamental differences between classical Greek Literature and the narratives found in the Hebrew Bible.  In its most basic form his argument is that classical Greek Literature describes both physical characteristics and emotional events in great detail, even as in the title of his paper, to the scar on the foot of Odysseus, by means of which his maid is able recognise him on his return home to Ithaca, Homer, the author in question, then goes on to relate the hunting accident in the course of which the scar was received.  All this detail interrupts the flow of the narrative.
Nothing could stand in more contrast to this style of narrative than that other ancient form, that found in the Tanach.
The example of Biblical narrative that Auerbach uses to illustrate his point is that of the Akedah, the binding of Isaac, which we will read tomorrow. But he could, in truth, have chosen almost any of the narratives of the Bible.
What did Abraham look like? We do not know, what did Isaac look like? What happened on the journey together? Even the question of, 'How old was Isaac?', A child?, A young man?, or even perhaps a fully grown adult.
All these details are left out. They are left for us, and for the midrash to read into the text.  So rare are descriptions in the Bible, and in Biblical narrative that there is a special term to describe them פרט תאורי literally a detailed description.  But even then this will be a word here, or a short phase there rather than the paragraphs of extended Homeric poetry.
For example Joseph is given a description. ויהי יוסף יפה-תאר ויפה מארה and Joseph was fair of complexion and good to look at.

And that's it. Now imagine what Homer might have done? But whenever a detailed description is given it signals something of importances or significance.  In the case of this description of Joseph it introduces the whole incident of Pontifar's wife.

What of the story that is the focus of our Rosh Hashanah service tonight and tomorrow? What of the Akedah? It is full of details, or at least half details, ones which beg questions but offer few imminent answers.

Abraham rose early, the journey took three days, Isaac and Abraham were accompanied by two young men. All deals each on opportunity for exegesis and midrash.

All of these add to what is already a strange and troubling story.

Who is even the main protagonist, the hero of our tale.  As Odysseus is the hero of the odyssey. Is it Abraham who was prepared to sacrifice his son?, Isaac who permitted himself to be bound?, Sarah who is absent from the whole narrative, or maybe as Yehuda Amichai suggested it was the Ram? The ram was after all the only creature to die, to be killed during the Akedah.

The ram's horn is still blown on Rosh Hashanah, and the shofar and its primal music are perhaps the most potent symbols of the season, is the ram the hero then?

In ten days time we will meet again for Yom Kippur.  What is the stand out story for that solemn day?  I would suggest that rather than any of the Torah readings the main story of note for Yom Kippur is that of Jonah, that short book about that strange prophet read on the holiest day of year.

Who is the hero there?, Jonah? Human certainly, but a hero, I think not. The king of Nineveh who repented so speedily? Again I think it most unlikely. The common sailors who tried so hard not to throw Jonah over board, maybe...maybe, they certainly appear as righteous people and although pagans they are given positive afterstories by the midrash.

No I would argue that the hero of the Jonah story and therefore of the whole day, is the vine which grew up overnight to shade Jonah and was killed the next day simply to teach Jonah a life lesson. After all, Jonah, nineveh, sailors and the whale are all alive and more or less well at the end of the book. Only the vine has died.

Both the vine outside Nineveh and the Ram on the mountain are silent characters both of whom can be overlooked, even in the Akedah Abraham's attention had to be drawn to the ram entangled in the brush. And both the Ram and Vine are the sole fatalities in both these narratives where no-one else dies.

Greek epic poetry maybe rich in description and fully of details, but classical Hebrew narrative has a power all of its own. Odysseus, Euryclea and Agamenon do not feel real whereas, Jonah, Abrahama and Isaac do. At least to me.

Some details can and do matter, and overlooked people can change not only our lives but also the world.

The sound of the shofar calls to mind the season, the work of teshuvah and the call of God to action and changed. This year may we spare a though for otherwise unsung heroes of the world the Ram and the Vine included.

And take comfort form the knowledge that some acts we undertake can course profound changes.

May we be inscribed in the book of life for a good year.

Ken Yehi Razton.